Sorry Makes it Better
by slaysvamps
Summary: One Shot - Snape/Draco, Harry/Snape/Draco - Harry leaves his uncaring mates expecting to die. Years later a little girl teaches all three men that sorry makes it better.


Title: Sorry Makes it Better

Author: Slaysvamps

Pairing: Harry/Snape/Draco

Warnings: Non-con, Mpreg

Complete: Yes…. Mostly, see notes at end of story.

Disclaimer: Not mine. No disrespect or copy write infringement intended.

Summary: Harry leaves his uncaring mates expecting to die. Seven years later, a little girl teaches all three men that sorry makes it better.

Notes: One shot. No Beta, all mistakes my own. Please see notes at end of story for additional information not included in story.

IMPORTANT: This story involves non-consensual sexual intercourse - rape - and therefore should not be read by those who would be bothered by such a subject. Further, the effects of the rape on the victim are not fully explored as this is a short piece of fiction. In the real world, the lasting damage rape leaves on a victim would not be resolved in this fashion. This story is not meant to trivialize the effects of rape in any way, shape or form.

Additional note – PLEASE READ: I am very much aware that 'sorry' does not make rape better in any way, shape or form. While reading this story, please keep in mind that it is a work of FICTION, pertaining to FICTIONAL characters with FICTIONAL creature biology and instincts. In the real world, no one would ever forgive their rapist without many long months of therapy for everyone involved, if even then.

~S~M~I~B~

Sorry Makes it Better

~S~M~I~B~

Severus Snape stalked through the halls of Hogwarts, headed for his rooms in the dungeon. Anger drove him, anger in every step he took, anger at the Headmaster, mostly, but also at Potter.

How dare the Headmaster interfere in the private interactions between mates? Potter had dared complain about his treatment to Dumbledore, and now the old man was in a rage, trying, he claimed, to make sure the precious boy-who-lived was happy.

"You haven't fully mated with the boy," Dumbledore had said in a hard voice. "Your treatment of him is despicable and I will not tolerate it any longer. You will complete your bond, Severus, and you will do it today."

Didn't Dumbledore care that Potter's grades had gone up, that he was no longer hanging about with hooligans, that he was finally showing respect to his betters? It had taken nearly a month for Severus and Draco to whip Potter into shape. While neither Slytherin had liked the idea of having the boy as a mate, they'd done the best they could with him.

Draco. The thought of Severus' other mate was nearly enough to make the man smile. Draco was intelligent, insightful and beautiful, with a mind for potions and politics that nearly rivaled Severus' own. They had completed their bond that first night, locking Potter out of the bedroom. It had been a wonderful experience, feeling their magic merge as they made love.

In the weeks since the proclamation that the three were mated, Severus and Draco had managed to keep Potter out of the bedroom, for the most part. Certainly there were times when they had allowed him to please them with his mouth, but both men drew the line at actually buggering the boy. True, it left their bond with him incomplete, but unfortunately Potter could never leave them.

If only Draco had been Severus' only mate, but no, fate had to curse them both with Potter. Thankfully Draco had agreed with Severus on how to treat the fiend they'd been saddled with. Severus wouldn't have been able to accomplish so much in so little time if he hadn't had Draco's help. Well, now it was time for Draco to help him again.

Potter seemed confused when Severus told him to get into the bedroom and strip, but at least the boy moved quickly to obey. Severus quietly explained the situation to Draco and together they followed Potter into the bedroom.

The experience was just as distasteful as Severus knew it would be. Potter obeyed, at least at first, getting into position on the bed as he was told. Unfortunately, soon after Draco moved into place behind him the boy began to scream and would not stop. Severus did what he could to quiet the creature, and by the time it was his turn to bugger the boy, Potter's screams had been reduced to sobs.

The mingling of their magics was a distinctly unpleasant experience. In point of fact, it hurt quite badly. He could feel his magic reaching out to the boy, but somehow Potter was fighting it. The strength of their bond won finally out, but the residual pain left Severus lying on his side gasping for air. When he finally had his breath back he saw that Draco was sleeping beside him, and Potter was no longer on the bed.

~S~M~I~B~

Harry crawled slowly across the cold floor toward the chair where he'd left his robes. Every move sent ribbons of pain shooting up his back, through his stomach, down his thighs, but he wouldn't allow himself to give into the pain.

"What are you doing?" Snape's hard voice came from behind him.

Harry ignored the man, thankful that he no longer felt the compulsion to obey him, to respect him. Snape deserved no respect, not after this.

"You're bleeding," Snape gasped.

As if Harry didn't know he was bleeding, as if he couldn't feel the blood—and worse—trickling down his thighs. The pain was so bad he wondered if he'd be able to make it out of Snape's quarters, let alone out of the castle.

A hand fell on his back and reflexively Harry rolled to the left, taking the robes he'd finally reached with him and wrapping them around his naked, bleeding, aching body. Snape looked shocked at the movement, and it was more than Harry could stand.

"Don't touch me," Harry bit out in a hard, bitter voice, "and don't look so bloody surprised. You're the one that made me bleed, remember? You and your boy-toy there."

"Harry—"

"Don't call me that," Harry continued, his voice rising. "I've been 'Potter' since you found out we were mates, a bit of rape doesn't change that."

Snape recoiled as if he'd been struck, falling back to sit on the edge of the bed. His confounded expression made Harry wish he'd actually struck the man.

Harry struggled to get the robe on, ignoring the pain that made him want to crawl into his cupboard and die. He might miss his cupboard here in Snape's rooms, miss the darkness and safety that it had given him, but he would miss nothing else about the time he'd spent in the Potions Master's room.

"A bit of—" Snape seemed affronted now. "Harry, we were simply completing the bond. You cannot call that ra—"

"It was rape," Harry shot back, nearly yelling now. "I told you no, remember? I begged you to stop! If that doesn't make it rape, then the blood on your dick does, Sir." He put all the hate and bitterness he felt in that last word, flinging it across the room like the weapon he wished it was. Knowing that nothing he said would make a difference, he held out his hand. "Accio Harry Potter's wand."

"Harry, you can't—" Snape began, only to be interrupted by the polished length of wood sailing through the doorway and into Harry's hand.

"I know," Harry growled. Just having the wand in his hand made him feel better, made him feel more in control. "I know very well that 'Potter may not have his wand outside of class.' Well fuck your rules." He waved the wand. "Accio Harry Potter's Gringott's key." The key rattled against a drawer in the nightstand before shooting across the room to land in Harry's hand.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Potter?" Malfoy demanded. He was sitting up now, wakened by the yelling, Harry supposed.

"Taking what's mine," Harry replied grimly as he put the key in a pocket of his robes. "Sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but you'll just have to find something else to compensate you. Neither of you will get a single piece of my gold." At Malfoy's blank look, Harry added mockingly, "Oh, you don't remember what you told Sir as you were raping me? My gold made your sacrifice worth it? Isn't that what you said?"

Harry braced his free hand on the wall and slowly, painfully pushed himself to his feet. He could still feel the blood—and worse—running down his legs, but he ignored it and the agony shooting through his body and made his way toward the door.

"What are you doing?" Snape demanded. "You're injured, let us get you to the hospital wing." He made to rise, but Harry raised his wand, making the older man see the wisdom in settling back down on the bed.

"Yes, let's," Harry drawled, pain making his voice rough. "Let's go tell Pomfrey just how I was injured, shall we?" He laughed sharply. "I don't think so. I hope to never see either of you ever again."

"You can't leave us, Potter! You'll die if you leave us!"

Draco actually sounded worried now, and Harry was sure it was fear of being caught mistreating their slave, or maybe the loss of all those Galleons in the Potter vault.

"I know." Harry had reached the bedroom doorway and he clutched at the casing long enough to turn back for a moment. "But the two of you will have what you wanted, won't you? A life without me. I hope you're bloody miserable together."

"You're so eager to die?" Snape asked incredulously.

"I'd rather die than be mated to the two of you," Harry snapped. "You see me as nothing more than James Potter's son, and he sees only the Boy-Who-Lived. Both of you think I'm spoiled and pampered and both of you are too stupid to ever look past the surface and see the truth. I'm better off dead than staying, so yes, I'm eager to die just to be away from the lot of you!"

He meant it too, every word. Memories of the last month seemed hazy, but he remembered giving up his friends, Quidditch, his very identity, in an effort to make these two men love him enough to complete the bond. He wasn't sure why they had chosen to complete it now, in the violent fashion they had, but he had had enough of their mistreatment.

A wave of his wand closed the door and sealed it with the strongest locking charm he could cast. He could still hear pounding on the wood when he reached the hall, but he didn't have the strength to worry about it now.

If the sixth year Slytherin prefect had not found him not twenty meters from Snape's quarters and helped him to the Hospital Wing, Harry wouldn't have made it. The boy wanted to fetch Snape and subsided only when Harry growled that Sir and Mr. Malfoy had caused the injury.

Pomfrey was incensed when she saw his injuries and tried to insist that he remain in her care until he was healed. Harry quietly took the potions she handed him and let her cast a few spells on his wounds. He refused the Dreamless Sleep she offered him and thanked her for all the help she'd given him over the years before limping out of Hogwarts.

~S~M~I~B~

Dear Sir and Mr. Malfoy,

My name is Rion and I am 7 years old. My daddy don't know I am writing to you, but Mrs. Reece said we have to practice writing letters and I don't have no one else to write to.

I wish I could meet you, but my daddy said that you don't like him. Why don't you like my daddy? He's very nice, he gives me hugs and kisses all the time, and always reads me a story at bed time. He makes the best cookies and lets me help him in the garden. My daddy even gave me a broom for my birthday and showed me how to fly!

Sometimes my daddy cries and it wakes me up at night. He stops crying when I hug him, but he is still sad. He cries a lot when he don't think I see him. I think he misses you a lot. My daddy said that you hurt him so he had to go away. Why did you hurt him? My daddy said that you didn't even say sorry.

My daddy says that sorry always makes it better. He says you just have to say sorry and mean it, and promis to never be bad like that again, and it makes it better. I broke a bowl one time and said sorry and my daddy said it was all right. Can't you just say sorry?

My daddy says that Sir makes poshuns. He says that poshuns are like medcine but can do other stuff to. One time my daddy tried to show me how to make poshuns, but he cried and we had to stop. My daddy says that Mr. Malfoy is good at poshuns to and at riding a broom.

My daddy says that wizards use owls to send letters. I am gonna put this letter in my window tonight and wish really hard for a owl to come and take it. My daddy says that wishes come true if I wish real hard. I really, really wish you would say sorry to my daddy so he won't be sad no more. Then Sir can teach me how to make poshuns and Mr. Malfoy can take me on a broom like my daddy does sometimes.

Sincerely

Rion Potter

Floret Cottage

~S~M~I~B~

Draco stood at the bottom of the hill looking up the hill toward a small cottage that stood surrounded by flowers. Someone had spent a lot of time on the flowerbeds that stretched from the house to the street below. A low fence ran around the front garden, but he could see that it was much higher behind the house to give more privacy to the back yard.

The cottage was on the edge of a small muggle village, one far from any wizarding population. Draco was sure that was a deliberate choice on Harry's part. No one in the wizarding world had seen Harry since he had walked out of Gringotts the morning after Draco and Snape had—

Draco tried to pull his thoughts away from that night, away from the damage they had done to the smaller boy, but the memories refused to be pushed away. He remembered staring at the smears and pools of blood on the floor while Severus worked on breaking through the spell Harry had put on the door. He remembered following drips of blood into the hallway, and the damning way that Mathers, the sixth year Slytherin prefect, had looked at them when he passed them in the hall. At least the boy had held his tongue.

Madam Pomfrey had not held her tongue when they followed the trail into the Hospital Wing. After making it quite clear that Harry could have died from the tears in his large intestine, she had driven them out of her domain with a vow that she would let them die before she treated either of them ever again.

Harry's visit to Gringotts had ensured that the Potter fortune was far beyond their reach. Not that either Draco or Severus wanted the money, not after losing Harry. Though they never talked about it, both knew that their actions had driven their mate to his death.

Draco also knew that he and Severus hadn't deserved Harry, knew they had failed to appreciate the kind, loving mate they had been given. It hadn't been until after Harry had disappeared that Draco had begun asking questions of Harry's friends, even visiting his muggle family to find out the truth about their mate. It had taken Severus' wand to make Draco leave the house on Privet Drive without cursing the monsters that had abused their mate.

Nearly a month after Harry had left Severus had decided it was time to clear the boy's belongings from their rooms. They had opened the door to the closet Harry had been given to hang his clothes and were stunned by what they found within.

On the floor of the closet was a nest Harry had constructed from a worn blanket and an old cloak. Closer examination of the items revealed that the blanket had been on Draco's bed in the Slytherin dorms when he'd lived there, and the cloak belonged to Severus.

Stacked along one wall was Harry's school books, parchment and writing instruments. A lantern with two broken panes of glass was on the tallest stack, which suggested the boy had done most of his homework in the tiny room. It was a stark contrast to the desk Severus had placed in his den for Draco to use.

Draco wasn't sure what Severus had told the Headmaster about Harry's disappearance but within days the entire wizarding world was looking at them with a mixture of condemnation and pity. Though it was true that neither Draco nor Severus would die from Harry's absence, they were incomplete without him, and both would feel his loss the rest of their lives.

Rion's letter had come as a complete surprise. The fact that she'd used the names 'Sir' and 'Mr. Malfoy' had convinced Draco that the child was in fact Harry's daughter. There were only a few circumstances in which Harry would have continued to live without his mates nearby, and having a child from one of them was certainly one. He wondered if he or Severus had fathered the girl.

Draco knew he was stalling by musing over the past. A part of him wanted to return to Hogwarts, to crawl back to the dungeon he and Severus lived in and forget the scrawled note the child had sent them.

Severus had read the letter that Rion had sent and shut himself in his laboratory. He'd done the same thing when they had realized just how badly they had treated Harry, and Draco knew it could be days or weeks before Severus came out. Draco didn't think he could face that again, not now that they knew Harry was alive.

And there was the child to consider. Her letter had left him with dreams of a little girl with big brown eyes and long blond hair looking up at him, asking him to take her for a ride on his broom. It had also left him with nightmares filled with Harry's cries, his pleas for Draco and Severus to stop and leave him alone. Rion had asked for her daddy's mates to come and apologize, and that's just what Draco planned to do.

~S~M~I~B~

Rion had been restless all day. She'd put her letter in the window days and days ago, and it had been gone the next morning when she got up. She just knew an owl had come to take it away, just knew that Sir and Mr. Malfoy would read it and come to Floret College to say sorry to her daddy. She'd waited forever, it seemed, but she just knew that today was they day that Sir and Mr. Malfoy would come and make things better. Finally, finally, the knock came.

"I'll get it," she sang out as she bolted for the front door.

"Rion, wait for me," her daddy called from the kitchen.

It was too late. Rion had the door open and was looking up, up, up into the face of a very pretty man, almost as pretty as her daddy. The man had stormy grey eyes and white blond hair that was just the same color as her own. He stood looking down at her in surprise, but she smiled widely and took his hand.

"You're Mr. Malfoy, aren't you?" she cried happily. "I knew you would come, I just knew it!"

The man seemed to recover a little and nodded as he smiled down at her. A noise from behind her drew his attention and he looked up.

"Rion, come away from him."

Her daddy's voice sounded nothing like it usually did. When they were playing, or working around the house, daddy's voice was happy and light, like sunshine on a warm summer day. When he was sad, daddy's voice sounded soft, a little like a cool breeze through the trees in the back yard just after the sun went down. But now daddy's voice was shaky and cold, like the winds that frightened her by whipping around the cottage in the depths of winter.

"It's okay, daddy," she assured him as she looked around Mr. Malfoy, trying to see if Sir was still standing outside. "Mr. Malfoy came to see you so you don't have to be sad anymore." She looked up at the tall man still holding her hand. "Did you bring Sir too?"

Mr. Malfoy shook his head but kept looking behind her, looking at daddy, she thought. Rion turned to look too and gasped. Daddy was near the door to the kitchen looking like he would fall if the wall wasn't there to hold him up. His face was pale, his green eyes the only color. He looked like he was in pain, even worse than when he'd dropped the hammer on his foot last summer.

"Daddy?" she cried softly, letting go of Mr. Malfoy and running across the room to grab her daddy's hand. "Daddy, are you alright?"

Daddy latched on to her hand and pulled her behind him, thrusting her into the kitchen, holding her there when she wanted to step back into the living room.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Mr. Malfoy said in a soft, cultured voice. His eyes looked a little like daddy's but not in color, in the pain that filled them. "I'm not going to hurt you, not ever again, I swear it. And I'm not here to take Rion away, either," he added when Daddy tried to push her further into the kitchen.

"Wh—" Daddy had to stop to clear his voice before he spoke again. "Why are you here?"

Mr. Malfoy took a step into the room, his hands held out like the people in movies who were trying to give themselves up to the police. "I came to apologize, Harry. We—"

Rion saw Mr. Malfoy take a deep breath and blink his eyes real quick, like he was trying not to cry. She'd seen daddy do that a lot when he didn't want her to know how sad he was.

"We treated you badly," Mr. Malfoy went on. "You were right, we took away everything you loved and we only gave you pain. We behaved abominably and—"

"Go away."

Daddy's voice was shaking, and so was the hand holding Rion's. She tried to move around him to look up and see if he was crying, because it sounded like he was, but he wouldn't let her. If daddy was crying, she would have to hug him and try to make him feel better.

She looked across the room to Mr. Malfoy. The taller man had tears on his cheek and looked like he needed a hug too, maybe even a kiss to make him feel better.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Mr. Malfoy's voice was shaking too. "I'm sorry, and I swear I will never, ever try to control you, or take away who you are." More tears were falling down his face but he didn't bother trying to hide them or brush them away. "I know what we did is unforgivable, but I am sorry, Harry, so very, very sorry."

Daddy let go of Rion's hand and started sliding down the wall. She tried to catch him, but all she could do was fall with him, pushing him back against the wall so he wouldn't actually fall on her. She could see the tears on his face now, see him biting his lip so hard it was white.

"It's okay, daddy," she soothed, putting her arms around his neck. "Mr. Malfoy is sorry, daddy, it's all better now, isn't it?"

Daddy put his arms around her and squeezed her tight, so tight she nearly squeaked at the pressure. She didn't understand why daddy was still crying. Saying sorry always made things right, didn't it?

"Daddy, daddy, it's all right," she insisted, trying not to get upset, although she was a little scared because her daddy wouldn't stop crying. "You always say that sorry makes things better, don't you?"

"Sorry doesn't fix everything," Mr. Malfoy said in a shaking voice that sounded so sad it sent shivers down Rion's arms.

"It does, daddy says it does," Rion insisted. She looked at her daddy pleadingly, not realizing that tears were falling down her cheeks. "Please, daddy! Mr. Malfoy said sorry and swore he wouldn't do it again, isn't that the same as a promise? Doesn't sorry make it better?"

Daddy's breath hitched like Rion's did sometimes when she cried. She was really scared now. What if sorry didn't make it better? What if daddy was still mad at her for breaking that bowl a few weeks ago? What if he was still mad for her not wiping her boots when she'd gotten mud all over the floor? Rion said she was sorry about a lot of things, all the time. If sorry didn't make it better, was Rion really a Bad Girl?

"It's okay, baby," daddy soothed, his voice still sad, but more steady than before. "Don't cry, baby. Everything is all right."

"I'm sorry, Harry," Mr. Malfoy said softly. "I just wanted to tell you how sorry I was, I didn't mean to cause problems. I'll go."

"No!" One of daddy's hands left Rion's back. "No, Draco, please, come here."

Rion snuffled and looked around to see that daddy was holding his hand out to Mr. Malfoy, and the taller man was walking across the room slowly, tears still trailing down his cheeks. Their hands met and Mr. Malfoy fell to his knees like a doll that had been dropped on the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Mr. Malfoy sobbed, clutching her daddy's hand. "I'll never hurt you again, I swear it!"

"Shh," daddy said, pulling Mr. Malfoy closer.

Soon her daddy was hugging them both. Mr. Malfoy wrapped his arms around Rion and her daddy as he sobbed helplessly against daddy's chest. Daddy still had tears on his face but he'd stopped crying and Rion watched him kiss Mr. Malfoy on the forehead. Daddy always kissed her after she said sorry to show that everything was all right.

Rion put her arm around Mr. Malfoy and kissed his forehead too. "It's okay, Mr. Malfoy," she whispered. "Sorry makes it better."

"Yes," daddy agreed, smiling at her over Mr. Malfoy's head. "It's all better now."

~S~M~I~B~

Severus was in his office sitting at his desk staring morosely down at the dark tea in his cup. Draco had left the castle days ago without leaving so much as a note saying where he was going. Severus was sure the letter from Rion had been the reason for his absence.

Though they had never talked about it, Severus had blamed himself for their treatment of Harry, and he was sure that Draco blamed him too. Severus was older, after all, and he should have known better than to let a feud with a man long dead interfere with his relationship with one of his mates.

Swirling the cold liquid in his cup, Severus sighed. If Draco were smart, he'd stay with Harry. Both boys deserved some happiness, and that little girl deserved two parents. Draco had tried to convince Severus to try and find the Floret Cottage Rion had put beneath her name, but what good would it do? Severus could dream of a teaching a little girl how to brew potions, but he knew better than to waste time in idle wishing. Harry might forgive Draco, but he'd never forgive Severus. Severus didn't deserve forgiveness.

The sound of his office door opening didn't really register with Severus until heard the sound of running footsteps. They were fast and too light to belong to any of the students. He looked up to see a little girl running across his classroom, her long blond hair swinging as she came to a halt in front of his desk.

Severus' stomach clenched. That white blond hair was the same shade as Draco's, the very shade he'd imagined would crown Rion's head.

"You're my papa!"

The girl's voice was high and confident, and he watched, stunned, as she ran around his desk. Before Severus could move she had climbed onto his lap and had thrown her arms around his neck.

"I'm so happy to see you," she squealed. "Father said you'd be here and you are!"

He put his hands on her shoulders and eased her back to see her face. She was smiling broadly, looking up at him with big eyes so dark they were a mirror to his own. She reached up and put his hands in his hair, running her fingers through it gently.

"Your hair feels just like mine," she crowed happily, "even if mine is the same color as Father's. But I did get your eyes! They're even prettier than my daddy said they are!"

Severus felt he had to be dreaming. Harry's daughter couldn't be here, not in his lap so obviously happy to see him. She couldn't possibly have Draco's hair and the lines of Harry's face yet still have his black eyes.

"Daddy said I should call you 'Sir'," the girl said seriously, "but Father said you would rather be called 'Papa'. Is Father right, Papa?"

"Rion," he breathed, his hand coming up to smooth down her hair. She was right, it did feel the same as his did when he wasn't brewing, soft and silky smooth. If this were a dream, he would happily to never awaken. "I-I would be honored if you would call me 'Papa'."

She threw her arms around his neck again, her high child's voice babbling in his ear about brooms and potions so fast he couldn't really make out what she was saying.

A noise from the hall made him look up and what he saw robbed every rational thought from his mind. Standing in the doorway was a boy—no, a man—Severus thought he would never see again. Harry was holding Draco's hand and looking at Severus with both hope and fear in his eyes.

Rion pulled back and put her hand on Severus' cheek. "You have to say sorry," she whispered. "Say sorry and promise—"

She broke off when Severus stood up, lifting her in his arms.

"I am sorry, Harry," Severus said fervently, taking a step around his desk. "You have my word—"

Before he could finish, Severus found himself holding his lost mate. A moment later all four of them were laughing and crying and holding each other.

~S~M~I~B~

Hours later Rion still hadn't stopped smiling when her daddy, father and papa tucked her into bed. Tomorrow would be a big day so her papa said she needed to go to bed early. Her papa promised to show her how to make a calming drought after breakfast, and after lunch her father was going to take her flying. Maybe after dinner her daddy would show her the gardens.

Sorry does make it better, she thought happily as her daddy started reading her favorite bedtime story

~S~M~I~B~

Author's notes: This isn't up to the usual quality of the writing I publish. There was a lot that could have been written into the story that I wasn't sure how to put in there without tons of exposition. Sometimes glossing works better than spelling everything out, but I may have gone too far in this fic. Yes, I realize that the story would have been much better had I made it longer, detailed many things, but I wanted to get the story out there and knew I probably wouldn't write any more, at least not in any kind of timely manner. Hopefully these notes will fill in some of the holes. Some of the information is implied in the story, and eventually I may go back and place it in the story itself. If I've missed anything please let me know and I'll try to add the explanation here.

1. Some time in Harry's sixth year, it was discovered that he, Snape and Draco were mates. I didn't clarify whether this was because they were some sort of Veela type creatures, or if it was simply magic throwing them together. Honestly, for the purposes of this story it doesn't really matter.

2. A completed bond creates equality between mates. An uncompleted bond forces one party to behave in such a way to please their mate(s) in an effort to encourage the completion of the bond. Because Snape and Draco had already completed their bond, they did not feel obligated to please Harry. Harry, on the other hand, whether by creature instincts or magic itself, was forced to do whatever his mates wanted him to do. The completed bond removed the dictates in Harry's mind that he'd been obeying. This allowed him to make the choice to die rather than put up with the treatment he'd been receiving from his mates.

3. Although Snape and Draco didn't deliberately set out to rob Harry of his personality, it did progress to that point as they insisted on specific behavior and Harry's need to complete the bond drove him to obey. Those behaviors manifested in Harry getting better grades, quitting Quidditch, and obeying all authority figures in the school, which is why he couldn't lie to Albus when asked about his relationship with Snape/Draco. Some dictates on Harry's behavior were done deliberately to 'punish' him but others would have been 'for his own good.'

4. Harry was given a closet to keep his clothes in. As the other men were not disposed to allow Harry to sleep in their bed, Harry made a 'nest' in the closet as the familiar close quarters made him feel secure. Snape assumed Harry was sleeping on the couch and it never occurred to Draco to think about where Harry was sleeping. I can picture Harry doing his homework in this space, sleeping on items that belonged to Snape and Draco, and surrounded by small keepsake items that were important to him.

5. Once Harry had retrieved money from Gringotts, he withdrew to the muggle world in anticipation of his death. Dobby followed Harry and took care of him as he healed. A month or so later, Harry began feeling sick and vomiting. Dobby knew immediately what was wrong and adjusted Harry's diet to alleviate the morning sickness. Eventually Harry realized he was pregnant and was elated. Dobby helped him give birth.

6. After Harry disappeared, Snape and Draco asked questions of Harry's friends and family to learn the truth of how Harry grew up. They learned he was neither the spoiled boy-who-lived nor the clone of James Potter. This, combined with the guilt they felt over how they treated Harry and the completed bond, changed them enough so they could be successful mates for Harry when he finally returned.

7. Rion is biologically the child of all three mates. It's magic, people, please don't try to tell me it's not possible.

8. I picture it taking some time for Harry to feel comfortable enough with his mates to attempt to have sex with them. Once he is comfortable, I'm sure it would be wonderful.

9. Where's Voldemort? I'm honestly not sure. I've ran it through my head two ways. The first is that Harry defeated Voldemort before finding out about his mates. The second is that he went and found Voldemort before he disappeared. It's not really pertinent to the story, so I decided to leave it open.

10. Harry survived leaving his mates because he had a part of his mates with him in the child he carried. It was only because Rion was with him that he was able to continue without his mates at his side. Draco and Snape were able to survive loosing Harry because they had each other.

11. In the real world, SORRY DOES NOT MAKE IT BETTER. While I realize that the fact Harry forgives his rapists is repugnant to some readers, please do not send me reviews telling me that Harry would never have forgiven his mates and perhaps should have killed them for what they did to him. This is a fictional story, people (see Additional Notes, above). If you don't like the plot, or the ending, the back button is right there at the top of your browser.

Revised 9/26/11 for minor errors and an additional note.

Revised 1/31/12 with yet another additional author's note


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